Wardens, police seek bear, cub in Lake City

LAKE CITY — Halloween won’t be here until Saturday, but some Lake City residents got a scare a couple of nights early this year.

It was nothing supernatural, however — it was a black bear, upset and potentially violent because she couldn’t find her cub.

Lake City police urged residents near Graham Road and Church Street to stay inside their homes as authorities searched for a bear and her cub Thursday night.

“The bear and cub have gotten separated, and it has made the (mother) bear angry,” Lake City Police Chief Billy Brown said.

Around 7 or 7:30 p.m. Thursday, residents reported sightings of what appeared to be a black bear, Brown said.

Game wardens with the S.C. Department of Natural Resources were involved in the search within the woods between Graham Road and a warehouse on South Church Street, Brown said.

Police around 8:30 p.m. had blocked off South Church Street between Deep River Street and U.S. 52, although they had reopened the road by 9:30 p.m., the chief said.

By Friday morning, police had heard no further complaints, Brown said, and told WBTW News13 that the bear had been seen heading into the woods near Williamsburg County.

Brown said sightings of a bear and cub are unusual in Lake City, although a bear was sighted in town several years ago and left on its own.